Fear of Success

Hey, Everyone!

Well, this past Saturday (5/7) was Free Comic Book Day! Unfortunately, we didn't get the huge haul that we did last year. Restrictions were put on how many comics we were allowed to take apiece: Three each.

Ramiro's face when he heard "Only 3 Comics Per Person"

Well, naturally Ramiro and I joined forces to optimize our comic intake. We made a planned attack so that we wouldn't end up with any duplicates.

I snagged:

• Top Shelf Kids Club (which was Owly, Korgie, Johnny Boo, etc.)
• Bongo Comics Free-for-All 2011 (Simpsons...)
• Disney's Darkwing Duck/Disney's Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers

Ramiro grabbed:

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars/Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Baltimore/Criminal Macabre
• Nancy/Melvin

There were a couple other comics I was interested in, but I think we did pretty well. And, if we could only get 6 comics total, I think we got the best of the bunch. You can see what ALL of the comics that were available HERE.

Then, since PayPal is SUPER SLOW at transferring money (I was going through the "I have money, but I can't get to it"s), Ramiro and I decided to raid our piggy bank for some food money. And Robert was VERY INTERESTED in what we were doing. So, Ramiro showed him the piggy bank up close... and Robert FLIPPED OUT!! I'm talking full on hisses, claws, bushy tail, standing-up-fur-ridge-on-his-back FREAK OUT! He was SCARED!

"Look into my face and know fear," says Mr. Pig

My best guess is that the smell of coins smells similar to blood...and blood tends to freak animals out. Ramiro thought he was just scared of the pig itself. Either way, we hadn't seen Robert that scared of anything since he saw the "ICE CREAM AND CREAM AND CAKE" commercial from Baskin Robbins when he was a baby.

We also joked that "maybe Robert has a fear of success."

Well, NOT ME!

A few of you know that I've been vying for a writing position. It would be a great opportunity and have regular hours and everything.

...and I got it!

Starting Monday, I'll be working from 10am-2pm from Monday-Friday. So don't bug me during those hours. Seriously. If you bug me, I have to clock out...and you will be costing me money...and I will be sore with you... >:( So please, don't chat with me during those hours. I know it will be tempting (especially since I have to be logged into my Chat programs for my job), but please don't. You can have me from 2pm onward. :D

As of now, I can't really talk about who I'm working for or what I'll be doing, but I'm super happy to have a nice steady job.

I'll also be continuing my work with WP Pro Business and some of my other gigs that I've been doing. Because I'm hardcore like that.

For those of you who liked that article I did on traveling with your dog, you might also be interested in this:

The Beagle: Number Five with the AKC, but Number One in Our Hearts!

It's a profile on the Beagle. I also did profiles for Chihuahuas and Rhodesian Ridgebacks. So keep an eye out for those.

Then, I got so into writing about dogs that I made a Squidoo lens about Wolfgang (my parents' dog):Wolfgang: A Good Dog

Wolfgang is a Keeshond. He's my parents' third Keeshond. Here are some pictures of me with their original Keeshond, Max (and their Afgan Hound, Shekinah):The Internet loves babies and dogs. Right...?

Anyway, I also created a Squidoo lens on how to raise pinkie mice, but I've been told it's a bit of a downer (Spoiler: I raised the Pinkie into adulthood, but he was not the undying magic mouse of fantasy tales). You can read it if you want.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd...that's about it!

See you next week!

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

May Again

Hey, Everyone!

I can't believe it's May again already...

Not a lot to report this week. I wrote an article about how to travel with your dog in the summertime:
THE DOG DAYS OF...YOU KNOW

And I made another Squidoo page:

SIX MORE TRAGIC SONGS

And I've been writing up some articles ahead of time for my "Professional" Blog. And I've even been doing some illustrations to go with them! This is my fave so far:
I realize that the illustration doesn't make a whole lot of sense without the article to go with it, but I couldn't resist sharing (It had been over a year since I'd drawn anything!). You'll just have to tune into my Pro Blog to see what it's all about. It updates on Wednesdays.

That's all I've been up to that I can talk about (I've got some potentially good things in the works, but it's all very hush-hush).

Until next time...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

Easter Vacation (Now Known as Spring Break)

Hey, Everyone!

Last week was "Spring Break" for most of my friends still in school. Which meant that I got to do some socializing! (Rare, I know).

My friend Elaine came over to visit us Tuesday night (4/19). It had been the first time we'd seen her since last November. She's doing well.

Then, on Thursday (4/21), Ramiro and I went to Descanso Gardens with Paris.

Paris was surprised that pine cones could get this big:And I was surprised at how fat I look in pictures:
I've gained 10 pounds since January. Sigh. I've gotta start exercising again. (Ramiro looks very handsome though, doesn't he?? :D ).

We went all over the garden. From looking at the flowers on the main walk......to climbing to the top of their highest mountain...We even saw a few animals...
...some beautiful ferns...
...and some giant mushrooms!Paris loved it. She had never been there before. In fact, she liked it so much that she built herself a hut and decided to live there:
Just kidding. She didn't build that hut.

Good times.

I also got a lot of work done last week. And I built a few more Squidoo lenses:

ARE YOU A WILLIAM CASTLE SUPER FAN?

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LAUREN R. THARP (this page was awarded a Purple Star!)

MY TOP 6 TEEN TRAGEDY SONGS (I'm going to be doing a sequel to this lens soon!)

Thanks for tuning in! See you next Monday!

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

Photo Credit goes to Paris for all pictures except for the ones with her in them.

Steff & Paris

Hey, Everyone!

It's Monday again!

Robert has recovered nicely from his surgery last week. Thank you, Lord! He's doing really well. We're so relieved.

Also, I have more articles up at WP PRO BUSINESS.

I have some other things in the works, but nothing I can talk about just yet...

But, since you (my sweet, loyal, Blog reader) bothered to check in, it would be a darn shame if that's all I had to write. So, in an effort to keep you entertained, I'm going to turn the spotlight on a couple of my friends! The first is:

STEFF TURNER

It was Steff's birthday last Thursday (April 14th) and, for her birthday, I created a very fun Squidoo page/Lens for her! Click here to view HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW STEFF TURNER?

The other friend is:

PARIS MATIC
Those of you who frequent my Blog probably recognize Paris as the friend I went to the tea party with a while back.

I've gotten Paris hooked on Squidoo! She just started an account yesterday and she's already a Level 8 Squid and has two lenses. To view her account, CLICK HERE.


That's all for now! Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

Speas, Squidoo, and Hello World

Hello, Everyone!

I'm sorry I missed yesterday's update. (My Blog updates every week on Mondays--usually).

Robert was in a very bad way over the weekend. He's been depressed since Ziggy went missing, but, on Saturday, he stopped eating. We kept him alive by syringe-feeding him Gerber's chicken baby food (the one that's just ground up chicken & water) and lots of water. We figured this would get us by until Monday when our vet opened back up again. Eventually Robert began refusing the baby food, but he was still taking in lots of water...Unfortunately, yesterday morning (Monday), Robert began refusing water.

We called our usual vet(s), but they were booked until Tuesday. But Robert was looking really, really bad. And, with no food and no water, we knew that he wasn't going to last.

Luckily, my mom found a pet hospital that was willing to take him right away.

This one:

The Crescenta Canada Pet Hospital.

Where Robert's life was saved by this man:Doctor James D. Speas.

Dr. Speas was able to locate Robert's problem almost immediately. Robert had an abscess in his mouth from a puncture wound (it's unknown how/where he got it) and the abscess was so big and gross that it was blocking off his throat and displaced his tongue. That's why he couldn't eat or drink anything!

Dr. Speas kept Robert over night and operated on him, getting rid of the abscess. Hooray!!

The rest of the staff at the Crescenta Canada Pet Hospital were excellent as well (at least the ones that we met anyway). And the rates were very reasonable. They went above and beyond to give us quality service for reasonable prices. We had told them that we were broke (tax season...) and they put their heads together and came up with a treatment/payment plan that we could handle.

And Robert just finished eating a bowl of food! :)

Highly recommended.

In other news, I've made a few pages ("Lenses") on Squidoo:
HOW TO BE AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BULLY

ROBERT THE CAT

ZIGGY, THE ANGRIEST CAT IN THE WORLD

DORIAN, THE MOST UNLIKELY PET

HOW TO GAIN FOOD AND NP ON NEOPETS WITHOUT MAKING A REAL EFFORT

I was also published in a zine called Hello, World. It came out on the 2nd, but with everything that's been going on, it got pushed to the back of my mind.

In theory, I'm supposed to print out copies of the zine and sell them for $6-$7, but I don't have any printer ink [and can't afford to buy any (tax season...)], but, as a compromise, if anyone would like a copy of Hello, World: Volume 3, I can e-mail you the .PDF and you can print it out yourself! For only $2!

My contributions were the comic "Follow Me" and the poem "Another Degree of Nine" (they reprinted my award-winning poem for some reason!).

Still no sign of Ziggy. We're still searching for her nearly every day and we've been making all sorts of phone calls. And, please, don't suggest coyotes. We've heard you and we've looked into it. And I don't mean we just walked around looking for coyotes at dusk (though we did that too), I mean we called a bunch of places about it: Animal Control, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Fish and Game, and the Wildlife Waystation. They all said the same thing: "It's possible, but not likely." The Department of Agriculture was especially helpful. They said there was a lone coyote that made it to our area (traveling through storm drains) about a year ago, but, when that happened, it wasn't just cats missing, it was people's little dogs and their chickens. Coyotes do not discriminate. Also, since Friday/Saturday/Sunday is "Party Night" on our street, and Ziggy went missing on a Saturday (when a huge party was going on!), it's even MORE unlikely that it was a coyote that took her. The D of A as well as the Pet Detective we called, thought that it was more likely to be a cat hoarder. We have several hoarders in our area, but they're hoarders of things--could they have moved onto cats? Maybe. It seems to be happening in a very concentrated area. When we fan out to do our searches, cats are still plentiful. It's in this little section.

We're still investigating all possibilities and checking the shelters daily. I'll let you know if something turns up.

Also, Happy Birthday, Vincent! Enjoy your last year as a teen!

Until next time...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com